


never again, again

by helsinkibaby



Category: Luke Cage (TV)
Genre: Angst, Community: 1-million-words, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 12:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8161889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Claire said "never again". Luke did too. Sometimes, things change.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For one million words September bingo, "never again"
> 
> Posting before it inevitably gets jossed in 24 hours time!

"Never again," Claire told herself as she threw her keys on the hall table, slamming the door behind her for good measure. 

"Never again," she muttered, stomping into the kitchen and wrenching open the refrigerator, grabbing a beer from the shelf and slamming the door. The shelves inside rattled with the force she used but it barely registered with her as she popped the top off and took a long swallow. 

"Never, ever again." Which she'd said before when she and Matt had called things off. She should have learned her lesson then but no. She'd had to go and get involved with another "enhanced" human, with all the bullshit that that entailed. 

She should have known better. 

She had known better, but she'd ignored her better instincts, let herself fall. 

Too bad that landing pretty much sucked. 

She took a long drink and slammed the bottle back down on the counter, bracing her hands on the table and taking a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, she straightened up, heading for the bedroom, thinking that maybe a shower would help take her mind off things, take some of the tension of the fight, followed by a bad night's sleep followed by a twelve hour shift away. 

Instead, there was a knock at the door that made her freeze halfway there. 

She knew there was only one person it could be and there were a hundred good reasons why she shouldn't open the door. 

She opened it anyway. 

Luke stood there, hands jammed into the pockets of his hoodie, jaw firm, lips set in a thin line. "Hey," he said when it became obvious she wasn't going to speak first. "Can I come in?" 

She should have said no. 

She should have closed the door in his face. 

She stepped back and let him in. 

Standing in her living room, arms crossed, she stared at him, waiting for him to speak. When he finally did, the words weren't exactly what she wanted to hear. 

"You were wrong." 

She let out a surprised laugh, pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wow... your idea of romance really needs work." 

Luke closed his eyes, as if he'd realised just how that sounded and regretted it. He didn't backtrack though. "That day in the barbershop," he said and there had been a lot of days, a lot of conversations in that barbershop, so she shook her head, eyebrows raised in question. "You told me nothing could hurt me. You were wrong." 

Claire narrowed her eyes. "You have bulletproof skin," she reminded him but he had an answer for that as he took a step towards her. 

"But not a bulletproof heart." She opened her mouth to argue that a bullet would have to go through his skin to get to his heart but then his meaning hit her and it was like she was the one who had taken the bullet. 

"Oh." 

"Yeah." The word was a sigh, heavy on his lips. "When I lost Reva... I said never again. I never wanted to feel that way, that pain, again. And I guess I thought if I ended things with you... then I wouldn't." Another sigh. "Turns out it was already too late for that. And I didn't realise it until you were already gone."

Every muscle in Claire's body ached to step towards him. She made herself take a step backwards instead. "What are you saying?" She knew, or at least she thought she did, but she had to be sure. 

"I'm saying I never should have told you to go." He took a step closer to her, his eyes locked with hers, unblinking. "And when I did, I should have run right after you." Another step closer and Claire's heart was hammering in her chest. "That if you let me, I will never... never... do anything like that again." 

Claire ran her tongue along suddenly dry lips, swallowed hard before she could speak. "Luke... what you do... what you're able to do... I'm not sure I can..." Her voice trailed off because she'd been down that road, at least partway, with Matt and while Luke wouldn't require her medical assistance, the two men had a certain degree in common. Even as bad as she felt right now, she wasn't sure that her heart could take that kind of punishment. 

"Honestly? I'm not sure either." He closed the gap then, laid his hands on her shoulders so lightly that she barely felt any pressure at all. Just heat in his touch, spiralling through her body and pooling low in her stomach. "But Claire... I want to try." 

Slowly, Claire took a step towards him, slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. "Me too," she whispered as she felt him drop a kiss to the top of her head. 

It looked like never again would just have to wait.


End file.
